It is with sadness that the Ministry of Defence has confirmed the death of Sergeant Stuart Millar of The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland.

He was killed as a result of an explosion believed to have been caused by a rocket-propelled grenade when he was attacked by insurgents whilst patrolling on foot in Babaji District, Helmand Province on the morning of Monday 31 August 2009.

It is with sadness that the Ministry of Defence has confirmed the death of Private Kevin Elliott of The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland.

He was killed as a result of an explosion believed to have been caused by a rocket-propelled grenade when he was attacked by insurgents whilst patrolling on foot in Babaji District, Helmand Province on the morning of Monday 31 August 2009.

Lance Corporal Richard James BrandonCorps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME)

It is with great sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm that Lance Corporal Richard James Brandon of the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) was killed in Afghanistan on 2 September 2009.

Lance Corporal Richard Brandon

LCpl Brandon was killed south of Gereshk in Helmand province. He was the driver of a Samson repair and recovery vehicle within the A Squadron Fitter Section of The Light Dragoons.

Lance Corporal Graham Nathan Shaw was born in Huddersfield on 31 January 1983. He completed Army training in September 2000 at the Infantry Training Centre Catterick, and arrived in the Duke of Wellington's Regiment in November of the same year. He successfully undertook a JNCOcadre in 2002 promoting to Lance Corporal in the spring of 2004.

Lance Corporal Shaw was a member of a 3 YORKS platoon serving with 1 Coldstream Guards Battle Group, in the Babaji District of central Helmand province. On the 1 February 2010, he was a Team Leader of a base security foot patrol south of the Kings Hill check point when an improvised explosive device detonated killing him instantly.

At the 2013 Paris Air Show, Russia announced the Kamov company's Ka-52 Alligator's readiness for export.

The Alligator can handle "hot-and-high" operating conditions. "Kamov-52 was conceived when Russian experience of combat operations in Afghanistan were quite alive," said the chopper's chief designer, Sergey Mikheev.

Corporal Liam Matthew Riley was born in Sheffield on 7 July 1988. He finished Army training in July 2005 at the Infantry Training Centre, Catterick and arrived in the Battalion in Sep 2005. He completed the Section Commanders' Battle Course in 2009 and was promoted to Corporal later that year.

Corporal Riley was a member of a 3 YORKS platoon serving with 1 Coldstream Guards Battle Group, in the Babaji District of central Helmand province. On 1 Feb 2010, he was the patrol 2iC of a base security foot patrol south of the Kings Hill check point when an improvised explosive device detonated. Corporal Riley received catastrophic injuries from the explosion and was killed in Action.

It is with deep sadness that the Ministry of Defence confirms that Corporal John Harrison from The Parachute Regiment was killed in Afghanistan in the early hours of Wednesday 9 September 2009.

Corporal Harrison, aged 29, was part of an operation to free hostages from Taliban captivity. Stephen Farrell, a journalist of dual British/Irish nationality, was freed in the operation, which was supported by the Afghan authorities and our NATO allies. Sadly, it was not possible to rescue Mr Farrell's Afghan interpreter, Sultan Munadi.

It is with deepest regret that the Ministry of Defence must confirm the death of Kingsman Jason Dunn-Bridgeman from 2nd Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment in southern Afghanistan on 13 September 2009.

Kingsman Dunn-Bridgeman, aged 20, died after his platoon became locked in an exchange of fire with the enemy during a foot patrol in the Babaji district of Helmand province. He received a gunshot wound to the neck and, despite every endeavour made by those around him to save his life, died of his wounds.

It is with deep sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm the death of Acting Serjeant Stuart McGrath of 2nd Battalion The Rifles (2 RIFLES). Acting Serjeant McGrath was killed as a result of an explosion in Gereshk District, Helmand province, on the afternoon of 16 September 2009, dying from his wounds before he could be extracted to hospital.

Serjeant Stuart McGrath, aged 28, was born in Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire, on 5 December 1980. He began his Army training in October 1999 and joined 1st Battalion The Royal Green Jackets in June the following year (The Royal Green Jackets was one of five infantry regiments which combined to form The Rifles in 2007).

It is with deep sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm the death Trooper Brett Hall of the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment (2 RTR).

Trooper Hall died, on 16 September, at the Royal College of Defence Medicine Selly Oak, following injuries sustained when an explosion hit his Combat Logistic Patrol in rural north-west Helmand province.

Trooper Brett Hall, aged 21, was brought up in Dartmouth, Devon. He joined the Army in November 2006, aged 18. He leaves behind parents, Susan and Peter.

It is with deep regret that the Ministry of Defence must confirm that Acting Sergeant Michael Lockett MC, of 2nd Battalion the Mercian Regiment (Worcesters and Foresters) was killed in Afghanistan on Monday 21 September 2009.

Acting Sergeant Lockett was on a dismounted patrol near Patrol Base SANDFORD in the Gereshk district of Helmand province when an explosion detonated, killing him before he could be extracted to hospital.

The Royal Scots Borderers 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland

Private Sean McDonald was born in Toronto on 5 October 1983. He attended Currie Community High School in Edinburgh before enlisting into the Army and joining the Army Foundation College in Harrogate at the age of 16.

Following a year's initial training, he completed his Infantry phase two training at the Infantry Training Centre in Catterick. He joined his Battalion, The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment) in 2001 and has since been on three tours of Iraq, and has also served in Bosnia and Northern Ireland.

Private McDonald deployed with B Company, The Royal Scots Borderers 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, as part of the 3 RIFLES Battle Group on 2 October 2009. His Company is operating mainly from Patrol Base Wishtan in the Sangin District of Helmand Province, which previously saw significant activity over the summer of 2009.

The latest Afghan news round-up compiled by Elayne Jude for Great North News Service includes Pashtunwali's rules, Afghanistan's Sikhs, the Taliban's drug wars and the memoirs of a carpet weaver

Air Support: Essential Lifeline

Gary Anderson is a retired Marine Corps officer and a civilian adviser in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is an adjunct professor at George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs. He argues from firsthand experience that without 'some combination of easy-to-maintain transport helicopters and relatively inexpensive fixed-wing or helicopter armed-escort aircraft...the U.S. will have wasted 12 years of blood and treasure'. Put simply, abandoning Afghan ground forces without proper air support would be both militarily unsound and morally unconscionable' (WSJ, 2 June 2013)

The Royal Scots Borderers 1ST Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland

Corporal Johnathan Moore was born in Bellshill, Lanarkshire on 2 July 1987. He went to Hamilton Grammar School before enlisting and going to the Army Foundation College in Harrogate in 2004.

He completed a years training, designed to promote junior leadership, before going to the Infantry Training Centre, Catterick for his phase two, infantry specific, training. He joined The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment) in March 2005 and since then has been on two tours of Iraq.

Corporal Moore deployed as a Section Commander with B Company, The Royal Scots Borderers 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, part of the 3 RIFLES Battle Group, to Sangin in October 2009.

It is with sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm that Lance Corporal Darren Hicks from 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards was killed in Afghanistan on Thursday 11 February 2010.

Lance Corporal Darren Hicks died as a result of an explosion that happened in the Babaji district of central Helmand province.

Lance Corporal Darren Hicks, aged 29 from Mousehole in Cornwall, was one of life's truly genuine people, immensely liked by his seniors and subordinates alike. He enlisted on 14 October 1999 and after training joined the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards stationed in Windsor in June 2000, in time to experience his first of many State Ceremonial occasions and Public Duties.

The Battalion was soon preparing for operations, but this time for a 2 year residential tour to Londonderry. On completion of the tour in Londonderry, Lance Corporal Hicks attended a Lance Corporal Drill and Tactics Cadre at the Foot Guards, and the Parachute Regiment Centralised Course, whereupon successful completion he was duly promoted to Lance Corporal.

Lance Sergeant Dave Greenhalgh, 25, died instantly when his vehicle was struck by an Improvised Explosive Device. His Section was providing safe passage for a patrol near Lashkar Gah, Helmand Province, Afghanistan on 13 February 2010.

Lance Sergeant Dave Greenhalgh was from Ilkeston, Derbyshire. He joined the Army in 2001 and had served on operations in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan. He took part in Op FRESCO during the Fire Service strikes and has spent time training in the Falkland Islands and Kenya. He was an experienced and dedicated soldier who had risen rapidly through the ranks. He had completed a vast array of courses qualifying him in almost every aspect of infantry soldiering. He was a Search Team Commander, a driver of almost every military vehicle, a Tactical Questioner, trained in psychological operations and keen to learn the local language.

Rifleman Mark Marshall was born in Exeter on 24 March 1980. He went to Saint Peters Church of England High School in Exeter where he gained a BTEC in Public Services before joining the Police as a Community Support Officer. Rifleman Marshall joined 6 RIFLES, a Territorial Army Battalion, in October 2007 and attended training at the Infantry Training Centre in Catterick in October 2008. He completed an Assault Pioneer Cadre prior to mobilising to serve with the 3 RIFLES BG on Op HERRICK 11 in June 2009.

Rifleman Marshall was posted to C Company 3 RIFLES with whom he completed pre-deployment training before deploying to Kajaki in Northern Helmand. He served in Kajaki for two months before his Platoon was sent to occupy a Patrol Base in the northern part of the town of Sangin. Throughout this time Rifleman Marshall was employed as the point man in his patrol, charged with the clearance of the ground of Improvised Explosive Devices.

Rifleman Marshall was killed when an IED detonated while he was on a routine patrol providing reassurance and security to the local population.

He leaves behind his mother, Lynn, his girlfriend, Hayley, and his brother and sister, Alex and Jo.

Royal Air Force (RAF) operational low flying training timetables in 3 areas of the UK.

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